Dress-form.



G. B. SMITH.

DRESS FORM.

APPLICATION IILED'MAY 19, 1909.

Patented De0.24,19'12.

MW 23y W! TNESSES UNITED sT i isP-ATE T onmon eoozowm B. SMITH, or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA,VASSIGNOR. Towns MLLE.

WOLFE COMPANY, or PHILADELPHIA, PENN$LVANIA, A CORPORATION or PENN- SYLVANIA. r

DRESS-FORM,

A Application filed May 19, 1909. Seria1No.497,040..

To. all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, GooDwIN B. SMITH, a citizen of the United States,res'iding at Philtion. I c t i This invention relates to dress forms, and

forms which embodies a sack or pouch of impervious material filled with .some elastic substance, preferably soft elastic material, such for example, as wool, down, silk floss, or the like to give it the desired shape.

I have found that forms of this character are best adapted for the purpose for which they are intended if so, constructed that under suflicientlystrong, and sufficiently long continued pressure, the air which is normally contained within the sack or pouch can be to a very large extent, expelled therefrom. I have also found that it is desirable that the sack or pouch shall assume its original distended form rapidly, after the pressure referred to is discontinued. It will be apparent therefore, that a form to satisfy the requirements mentioned, must be providedwith means to permit of the passage of air into and out of, the sack or pouch, and also that the passage for'the exit of the air must be so constructed that the ,air will be (expelled slowly.

It is the purpose of this invention .to pro- -vide a dress form of the general character referred to, embodying means to permit of the entrance and exit of air, whereby the l elastic filling of the sack or pouch will cause the form to be redistended after air has been wholly or partially expelled therefrom, itbeing understood that the means permitting of the exit of air is soconstructed as to prevent the free movement of the air therethrough. ilhis-prevention of the free move- "ment ofthe air may be accomplished by a pressure regulating valve, an obstruction in the passage, or any other self-controlled,

l means to retard the free movement of air through such passage n contradlstlnction to a mere valverequlring manlpulation to open and close the same.

- In the accompanying drawings, in which I I have illustrated several modifications, of

my invention, and .in which like references designatecorresponding parts, Figure 1 is has particular reference to" thatclass of a modified form of valved end for my form. Flg. 3 is a sectional view through the valved end of the .form takeii on thelinie 33 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is 'a similar view to Fig. 3, illustratinganother modified form of valve,

My invention as illustratedpcomprises a sack .or pouch madeup of side pieces 1 and i 2, ofimpervious material, connected around the edges thereofbyabinding strip 3 folded thereabout and suitably secured thereto as shown. The pouch tapers atone end and is provided with a tab 4 whereby'it may be Patented Dec. 24, 1912.

fastened to a garment, and has at its opposite end, a folded end covering piece 5, the

ends of which aresecured upon opposite sides of the form covers 1 and 2 and sewe therethrough. v I v The padfilling 6 of wool, silkfloss, down or other soft elastic material, is inserted within the pouch to obtain the required shape thereof. l i

Referring to the form of my invention shown in Fig. '1, the ends of the form covers 1 and 2, within the end inclosing piece 5, are sewedtogether to form a valve neck 7, provided therein with a diminutive valve casing 8, having a wall 9 dividing the same into two chambers and having openings through its walls communicating with said chambers. 'A flat valve piece 10 extends externally againstfthe' inner wall of the casing 8, to

cover the opening communicating between the interior of the pouch andv one of its chambers, while a similar valve piece 11 extends internally; against its inner wall to cover the communicating opening of the other chamber, each of said valve pieces being controlled by springs 12 within the valve chambers and respectively constituting the inlet and exit valves, the spring of the formerbeing relatively light as compared to the spring of thelatter, whereby the exit of the air from the pouch will be retarded to amuch greater degree than the inlet ofthe I air therein. I Fig. 3 shows a modified form of construe-- tion for controlling the entrance and exit. of air, this being 'in the form of superposed strips 13, of porous textile material, which are centrally bent and secured within the neck of the form'with their ends extending outwardlyas shown. Thesestrips serve to obstruct both the entrance and exit of air as will be readily apparent.

The form shown in Fig. 4 is somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 3, the superposed strips 14 in this form, being, however, given one or more folds, whereby they serve more strongly to retard the entrance and exit of air.

Having fully described my invention, I claim:

1. A dress form of the character described, comprising a casing of material impervious to air, a filling for said'casing comprising soft compressible and readily expansible material, and self-controlled means for permitting the ingress and egress of air into and out of said casing, and retarding the outward movement thereof to a greater degree than the inward movement, substantially as described.

2. A dress form of the character described, comprising a casing formed of substantially impervious material, a soft compressible and readily expansible filling for said casing, a self-controlled valve regulating the entrance of air into said casing and positively preventing the exit of the air from said casing, and a separate self-controlled valve regulating the eXit of air from said casing, whereby the air is made to leave the casing slowly and said casing will oifer protracted resistance to pressure Without being flattened, said second named valve positively preventing the entrance of air in said casing.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GOODWIN B. SMITH. Witnesses K. V. OHARA, E. T. LESHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D G. 

